One of the things that I asked from the heavens above is to get married and have a child before I reach the age of 30.
I almost have forgotten that prayer of mine when I relocated to Manila because my boyfriend's plan was to save as much as we could, wait for our house to be built, and then get married. At that time, I was almost 29 years old.
By June 2022, I found out that I was already five (5) months pregnant. Amiel and I were discussing if I would go back to my hometown, Cagayan de Oro City. The following month, we decided to have a small wedding, preferably a civil wedding so that it would be intimate and it would not cost us much. We really do not want to take a lone for a huge wedding or ask help from both of our parents.
Having our documents processed and our request for the City Mayor to officiate our wedding were really very time consuming since a lot of people were getting married on the -ber months. By August, I have no other choice but to call the hotline of the Mayor's Office. Thankfully, there was another officiating officer who was willing to put us in his schedule. At first I was very reluctant because it might have been a scam or a modus .
When everything was settled, I talked to my parents nine (9) days before the wedding date. I know it was a very short notice knowing for a fact that my parents live on another island. Thankfully, they have travel credits with AirAsia so they really do not need to pay that much.


Our wedding fell on a Mondays, September 26 and my parents arrived a day before our wedding.



Few hours after arriving in my condo, we went to Dangwa located in Sampaloc, Manila to buy fresh flowers for my bouquet. We also went to Robinsons Magnolia to have our lunch. Thank you Amiel for the treat.
All the flowers in Dangwa are very pretty so I had a hard time picking for my bouquet.



Amiel thought that our wedding would be postponed due to the typhoon, and that some things might go wrong. But then, I on the contrary, was pretty sure that everything would be smooth sailing. And so it was.
By 11 in the afternoon, we arrived at the venue but we decided to have snacks at Peri-Peri. We got to mingle with few of our relatives and ninongs and ninangs.
The wedding was suppose to start at 1 in the afternoon but it started earlier since there were two couples who had been wanting to get out schedule. We were not mad though.
After the ceremony, we proceeded to the wedding reception. It was just for us to have lunch and mingle with each other.
No prenup photoshoots, no dramas. I could not thank more for the heavens above for answering my prayers and for allowing me to marry a very good person whom I love and who loves me as well.
I cannot wait to share to you all other things that I had been through. I am also back into making quick sketches and quick watercolors.
Hope you would still continue on supporting me.
Thank you very much.
Love,
Johanna Gail

Gail loves to work as an art teacher during summer -- sharing her expertise in art to young minds. She also loves to tutor students and make learning worthwhile. On the other hand, she works as a young leader in various organizations such as the Young Centrists Union. She also volunteers in one of the chapters of JCI or Junior Chamber International.